>> hello, everyone. you are watching "live from paris" on france 24. the french president outlines his plans for the eu just three weeks before taking over the rotating presidency of the council of the european union. france's socialist candidate tells her other rivals should hold a primary to unite the left, but the answer was a resounding no. and joe biden calls the rise of authoritarianism the challenge of our time as the u.s. president holds a two-day virtual summit on democracy.

france will be taking over the rotating presidency of the european council on january 1. with that in mind, french president emmanuel macron held a news conference to outline his vision europe. he used the platform to put forward ideas on everything from you border security and immigration to a union-wide minimum wage and the defining of a defense strategy for the continent. take a listen. >> we need to build back a europe that will fight for its borders, to defend its borders, and to be in a position to defend common values. we will reestablish the schengen

area. we need to make sure we have a common policy in order to assure our borders. >> we have more on the european reaction to the french president's speech. >> fear that the intention is to watedown the schengen area because e schengen area is always under threat. it has been especially under threat during the pandemic when countries were just coordinating the closing tire borders, kind of chaotic decisions. people are worried that this idea of a euro-group-type thing for the schengen area is another way to whittle down the rights citizens enjoy in this area. that's not what i heard because he was focused just on the external borders, which is the other 50% that people often

forget about. the media talked about decisions being taken by all of these schengen countries to if there is emergencies, some way they can send you border forced to that area. i did not hear him say anything about whittling down the area within the schengen zone, but of course, no matter what his intentions are, the fact is any member of this future group or any country on it could use that group to try to whittle down the internal travel rights. i think brussels wants to hear more about his ideas here on this. this is, of course, just an idea. he does not have any power to make this happen, and this would be discussed way beyond the french presidency itself, but in the end, it could result in a greater european is asian -- europeanization of the borders.

it could actually be something they really like if it ended up with stronger external borders and then people have more confidence in the open border system within schengen. >> the mayor of paris is trying to bounce back after an embarrassing 24 hours in an attempt to unite left-wing voters. she reached out to other left-wing candidates floating the idea of holding a primary. the idea was quickly shot down. >> could ann hidalgo be the savior of the communist party? and look -- of the socialist party? that is what some believe. mayor hidalgo is looking to restore strength to the party since francois hollande left in

2016. >> we must organize a primary of the left arbitrated by our fellow citizens. they will be very many because they want to find hope. >> elsewhere on the left, the former greenpeace campaigner won the greenpeace nomination buoyed by the extraordinary success the greens enjoyed. the biggest threat to who won the left is the leader on the far left unbowed party. after surprising the country pulling almost 20%, he is hoping to do even better this time. "no, france's not far right. france is about security, public health, emancipation, research, community or, -- community."

with the election under five months away, hit of a will have to conjure an extraordinary recovery in the polls to pose a real threat to emmanuel macron or anyone on the right. >> our foreign affairs editor has more on the state of the race with for months to go until election day. >> it seems clear the electorate has shifted firmly to the right. you look at the candidates that have already declared, we have two candidates on the nationalist far right. they are both pulling between them 35 percent ofhe electorate already, those who have declared their voting intentions, and the french electorate is firmly around 60% already people saying they intend to vote on the right. macron says he is neither right nor left, and so there is a

clear shift in the french electorate towards the right, and at the heart of that are worries about law and order and immigration you look at pulling. just recently yesterday, the socialist candidate -- don't forget, just under five years ago, we had a socialist president -- the socialist candidate, the mayor of paris, is failing to get about 5%. to the extent that she has offered all the other left-wing candidates, she said let's all get together, thrash it out, have a competition in primary, see which of us is likely to win and put up just one candidate -- the others have roundly rejected that, but none of them are pulling in double digits, so there is a problem on the french left for the candidates.

>> early data suggests there are less patients in hospital with severe forms of covid-19 other the omicron strain is spreading when compared with the delta variant. the latter says that i'm current cases appear to be mostly mild, but scientists have cautioned this is still early data and the variant is more contagious. >> it is very much more contagious than delta, but the need for oxygen is less substantial. there are less hospital admissions in inintensive care. they spend less time in hospital. there are less deaths, and it is important to say that three quarters of patients in italy and south africa are unvaccinated. >> meanwhile, france is dealing with a significant surge in

covid-19 infections, which has led regional health agencies to begin triggering their so-called white plans. the measures are designed to help hospitals cope with crisis and potentially a flood of patients. >> for three weeks now, the infectious diseases war at montpellier's university hospital has been at capacity, it's 10 beds occupied with covid patients. >> it is getting harder and harder with messages from er doctors who are looking for spaces and us on the other hand who cannot really help. we understand that stress, but we cannot really help. >> france has seen hospitalizations due to covid rise from fewer than 200 a day in october to current levels. in the face of the rising tide, six regions have now activated their so-called white flags, a

means to enable health authorities to implement emergency measures they helped organize, in particular by canceling non-emergency procedures and reinforce staff. managers are trying to get the message out that hospitals should not always be people's first option. >> clearly, you should dial the number 15 if you doubt and continue consulting your gp. >> this is infections spiral due to the omicron variant. wednesday alone saw over 60,000 cases recorded in 24 hours. >> rising authoritarianism is the defining challenge of our time -- those are the words of u.s. president joe biden, who gathered more than 100 world leaders for virtual summit for democracy. biden caused some controversy by not inviting countries like russia and turkey. the event intends to counter

democratic backsliding with u.s. promising a year of action following the two-day event. >> it was a campaign promise by joe biden -- organizing a summit for democracy and prove that after the donald trump era, the united states will not be complacent toward authoritarian regimes. >> this gathering has been on my mind for a long time for several reasons. in the face of sustained and alarming challenges to democracy , universal human rights, and all around the world, democracy needs champions. >> but among the hundred or so countries invited, the selection raises eyebrows. brazil and pakistan are taking part, but not turkey and hungary, even though they are u.s. allies in nato. also absent, china and russia. >> it i a dangerous game the u.s. is playing. they are sort of drawing a line of division in the wld that

creates an "us against them" environment just as they did with the cold war and the soviet union and drawing that line on the basis of democracy is actually quite arbitrary. >> beijing and moscow denounce the summit in a joint statement, citing its cold war attitude and critiquing the u.s. for granting itself the sole right to define democracy. biden is organizing the summit at a time when american democracy itself is at risk, especially since the january 6 attack when trump supporters stormed u.s. capitol. >> for more, let's bring in the executive director for the alliance of democracies. he joins us live from copenhagen. thank you for being with us. let's take it way back, back in 1946 when winston churchill made a very famous speech when he mentioned the so-called iron curtain. that concept went on to

influence international relations for decades. by dividing the world in two parts, isn't there a risk these kind of summits will alienate authoritarian parties even more? >> yes and no. we have seen authoritarianism on the rise. we have seen china and russia really push the borders. we have seen china punish lithuania for engaging, with taiwan. i think what we need is ultimately to bring the democratic world together, and i think that is what biden has done now, taking the first step. i would say authoritarians have already kind of divided up the world.

china has opted out of the internet where they do their own surveillance model for their citizens. >> there has been controversy over who was invited to take part in the summit. hungary, for example, which is a member of the european union, which is founded on values of democracy. meanwhile, brazil was invited to the summit, and i think a lot of people would argue that president bolsonaro is an thoritian leader. >> that is a great question. of course, it is like a wedding. it is always hard when you make an invite list. generally, the u.s. administration have gone for the broad list of countries. hungary, as you say, was not invited. i think they should have been because as you say, they are still part of the eu even though we still see some serious backsliding. i think hungary have used their

power inside the eu to block the eu representative and the leader of the lo -- the leader of the bloc could speak on their behalf and then talk to them like how are you going to shape up? >> how do democratic countries themselves protect themselves internally from authoritarianism ? how do they convince their own citizens to not vote for authoritarian all additions, for example? >> inside democracies, you have a debate to vote for. i would say all candidates sign up to basic democratic rights. there's a difference between having a whole system where you

have elections that are either a sham or nonexistent impact are having leaders inside democracy instead also kind of use rhetoric that some would call populist. that is a big divide, that even though china and russia claimed that even though they did not appear at the summit, they are better democracies, we know they fear their own people. why are they so scared taiwan is invited to the summit where if they really believe that it is one country two systems, they should be happy taiwan is invited. it is really alternative standards coming from china and russia that is a threat to the

globe. >> you are the executive director for the alliance of democracies. thank you very much for your time. >> for four nights only, some of lyons' public buildings will showcase 27 light installations. >> the city of lyons sparkling once again. the lights are back on, a new discovery for some visitors. >> i think it is very nice. the lights are beautiful. it has been very interesting. it is a great show, very enjoyable to watch. >> for four nights, public buildings, town squares tended to dazzling canvases for 27 light installations. this year's show is going ahead despite a spike in covid-19

cases. it was canceled in 20 because of the pandemic. masks are compulsory and health passes are required for indoor installations. despite the restrictions, many are happy to see the festival back. >> there are a lot of illuminations, and it is nice people can come together despite the hardships of this last year and still be able to discover lyons through the light show. >> the festival was inspired by a tradition which started in the middle ages and that many locals still follow today. people place candles outside their windows in tribute to the virgin mary. visitors have until sunday evening to admire them. >> time now for a look at some of the day's business news. we are starting with a landmark proposal from the eu to improve working conditions at so-called online platform companies. >> the proposal is and at

companies like uber and deliveroo that mischaracterize their employees as freelancers. the eu wants five factors to determine if workers are employees, giving the minimum wage and bargaining rights, among other benefits. according to the proposal, if just two of these five criteria exist, than a traditional employment relationship is in place. it has been criticized by companies which one it could lead to job loss. the eu says the plan is about fairness. >> we have to make sure the development of the platform economy upholds the labor and social standards which have been established in the eu. if people are missing out on

labor and social rights that they are entitled to, then there is a need for acting. it is about what work is taking place sed on facts, not on contracts. we want to correct the misclassification that exists. >> it was a quiet day on the markets with concerns over the omicron variant front and center. wall street finishing in negative territory, as you can see there, after putting in three straight days of gains. data should the u.s. labor market continues to recover. jobless claims falling to their lowest level since 1969. emmanuel macron calling on the european reunion to reform strict budgetary rules. existing rules discourage states from amassing debt and running deficits of more than 3% gdp. macron says reforms are needed

to pave the way. >> [speaking foreign language] >> now to the u.s. where the head of better.com has apologized after laying off 900 employees on his him call. recordings of the call went viral, fueling outrage against the ceo. the leader of the company now says he blundered the meeting. >> when he summoned 900 former employees to a zoom call, few could have guessed what would have gone next. >> if you are on this call,ou are part of the unlucky group being laid off. your employment here is

terminated effective immediately. >> the mass layoff hit staff like a bombshell, triggering outrage. the video was leaked and quickly went viral. after mounting criticism, the ceo of the mortgage startup posted an apology to the company website. >> i realize that the way i communicated this news made it difficult situation worse. i am deeply sorry, and i am committed to learning this -- learning from this situation. i'm doing more to be the leader you expect us to be. >> and get, there's more. >> some sayhe behavior reflects the growing callousness of corporate bosses. >> i think it is lack of empathy. i think its the quintessential corporat top percentage saying i'm choosing numbers over people, and i think it struck a chord with people saying, see, i told you.

they don't care at all. >> it has gone rapidly since it was founded in 2016. the company is planning to go public in a deal valuing it at almost 7 billion euros, but despite the success, the ceo is a controversial figure in the business world. last year, he made the cover of "forbes" magazine for calling his staff dumb dolphins in a corporate email. >> workers have decided to form a union at starbucks, the first time that has happened in the u.s. in decades, despite strong opposition from the company. starbucks has more than 8000 other cafes across the u.s., none of them unionized. >> we just started a movement. this is an incredible feeling in the whole entire world.

feels like we are on top of the world. >> finally, a computer scientist in florida can breed a sign of relief after winning a lawsuit over bitcoin. the jury found he does not owe ha of his assets to the family of his diseased business partner. here's reaction. >> believed. incredibly relieved. it has been a long time. i have been here in miami for two months, two very stressful months, and i think i have probably aged three years, but anyway. >> the story does actually get a little bit weirder because he claims he actually helped create bitcoin itself.

it should be said this is regardless generally untrue. >> this is a perfect segue to our >> -- to our next segment. catalina may try to investigate that. our daily fact checking segment. tonight, we focus on india where the muslim community is often the target of miss information, the -- the target of misinformation. >> internationalists are often the target of misinformation in india. they often accuse the muslim community of committing many crimes. the latest accusation is that they are carrying out rice jihad . they claim muslims are poisoning rice, and the accusation has been shared widely on social media. this twitter user saying muslims ar trying to reduce the hindu population by putting chemicals in rice. you can see the video where they

are supposedly contaminating or poisoning the rice, but if you are familiar with truth or fake, you know this video is not what it seems, so let's take a look at the video to see what is wrong. >> [speaking foreign language] >> i don't know if you heard the spanish words there, but we heard keywords there like "arroz." all in all, we heard spanish in the video, so why ours -- why are people speaking spanish in a video made in india? if you pause the video, you can see the brand name of the rice. when you google search it, you can see that it is a -- it is widely sold in peru.

we also found that peruvian media widely covered the same video in 2018 over a scandal when this brand was selling adulrated rice. they were adding food coloring substance and oil to make the rice look better, but to conclude this video happened in piru in 2018 and earlier this year, we had another case of this type up misinformation that was spread with corona jihad when muslims were accused of deliberately spreading covid-19, but this is just another example of islamophobia in india we are seeing. >> rice is safe. thank you very much. we will be back with more news. don't go away.

12/09/21 12/09/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> outrage has authorized him out for milary at a time we are dealing with a pandemic, risk of climate change, racial economic injustice, and to do it all in the name of an inflated version of the alleged threat from china just makes no sense. amy: as the house approves the la